Former Cricket Australia executive pleads not guilty to sexually touching two men

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A former senior Cricket Australia employee facing allegations he sexually touched two men told one man he had just allegedly assaulted that “nothing had happened”, a court has heard.

CA’s former head of communications Tim Whittaker on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to two charges of sexually touching men.

Timothy Whittaker outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.Credit: Joel Carrett

The court on Wednesday heard evidence from former colleagues about a drunken evening following an end-of-season staff party.

A group of staff left an after-party venue to continue drinking at an apartment, the court heard, where Whittaker continued to serve drinks.

One of Whittaker’s former colleagues who attended the later gathering told the court she woke the next day to a series of messages from the alleged victim.

The colleague told the court the man, who had been visibly intoxicated the night before, told her that after falling asleep, he had woken up to Whittaker assaulting him in a bedroom.

“When he woke up he was no longer on the couch, he was in [a] bed and his pants had been pulled down, and that Mr Whitaker was jerking him off,” the colleague, who has since left CA, told the court.

“When he said once he realised what was going on he started moving around and Mr Whittaker removed his hand. So [the man] pulled up his pants and got off the bed and left the apartment.”

The colleague told the court that Whittaker attempted to play down the incident, telling the man “that nothing had happened” and “trying to get [the man] to come back upstairs” as he tried to leave the apartment.

“The only other thing he told me is that once Mr Whitaker moved his hand he then lay there and pretended to be asleep. At which point, that’s when [the man] pulled up his pants and got off the bed and left the apartment.”

The court heard the weekend incident was reported to the CA human resources department on the following Monday. The colleague said she had been aware of another allegation but had not discussed it with her employer.

Another of Whittaker’s former colleagues told the court that he spoke to the victim the next day.

“He told me that Tim Whittaker sexually assaulted him, that he woke up in his bed with his pants and underwear fully off, and Tim was jerking his penis,” he said.

The colleague said it had crossed his mind to wake the man before leaving the apartment.

“I felt guilty … and had very much a thought about whether I should wake him up and leave with him, but I didn’t think he was unsafe at that time,” he said.

The colleague said he and Whittaker moved into the bedroom to avoid waking the man and continued to drink. He says Whittaker proposed calling escorts to the apartment.

While the first witness told the court that the alleged victim was mostly non-verbal and would utter the occasional word, the second witness said the man was more involved in the conversation before he eventually fell asleep.

Whittaker didn’t look at his former colleagues as they gave evidence, facing straight ahead with his hands in his lap.

Charge sheets released by the court say Whittaker is facing two charges of intentionally sexually touching two different men without their consent, one in March 2019 and the other in January 2016.

Whittaker has since moved to Queensland to live with his parents and had found employment.

The hearing in front of Magistrate Timothy Gattuso continues on Thursday.

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